With cases of Covid-19 falling in recent weeks and more than 91% of the population fully vaccinated against the disease, Portugal announced this Thursday (17) the relief of several restrictions related to the pandemic.
The main change is the end of the mandatory presentation of a vaccination certificate – or a negative test for SARS-CoV-2 – for entry into restaurants and cultural events.
Authorities also ended the requirement to submit negative tests for Covid-19 for access to major sporting events, bars and nightclubs.
Businesspeople in the sector celebrated the relief in the rules, which will come into force after sanction by the President of the Republic in the coming days.
The government also ended limits on the capacity of commercial establishments and other spaces open to the public.
There were also changes in relation to confinement, which becomes mandatory only for infected people. The so-called risk contacts of positive cases no longer have to remain in preventive confinement.
The recommendation for companies to adopt the man office for workers has not been renewed.
Despite the changes, the use of masks continues to be required in most closed spaces, such as concert halls, public transport and shopping centers.
In statements to the press after the meeting of the Council of Ministers that approved the changes, Mariana Vieira da Silva, Minister of the Presidency, said that the issue of masks will be left for a next phase of the relief of restrictions in the country, still without a date set.
The minister stressed that the current set of rules will remain in force until the confirmation of a “significant drop” in the number of deaths from Covid-19 in the country.
“The number of deaths is still very high: yesterday’s data verified 46 deaths. It is the indicator that is still farthest from the goals defined by ECDC [Centro Europeu de Controle de Doenças]”, he stated.
The country, which has about 10.3 million inhabitants, had a daily average of 63 deaths per million inhabitants in the last 14 days. The goal is not to exceed 20 deaths per million inhabitants in the same period.
